Air fresheners help tip officer to stash of marijuana (don't use more than 2 in your car)

[The Straight Story]

Air fresheners help tip officer to stash of marijuana

By Todd Wildermuth
Editor, The Raton Range


A nervous passenger and a vehicle filled with air fresheners helped tip off a law-enforcement officer Sunday morning that the SUV he had pulled over on Interstate 25 in Raton might contain illegal drugs.

It did. More than 100 pounds of marijuana that could have been worth more than $150,000 if sold on the street.

Motor Transportation Division Officer John Valdez arrested two men as a result of the traffic stop that turned into a big drug bust. The driver had a Mexican driver's license, but both men listed as a residence an address in Carbondale, Colo.

Valdez stopped the green SUV driven by Eleasar Sotelo-Perez, 38, because he failed to yield to another vehicle that had the right of way. The stop was made about 8:25 a.m. on I-25 near where U.S. 87 crosses the interstate.

During the stop, the passenger in the vehicle, Ricardo Cruz-Garcia, 23, opened the glove box to retrieve the vehicle registration as requested by Valdez. The officer noticed Cruz-Garcia's hand was shaking as he handed over the registration, according to Valdez's statement of probable cause for the arrests. Valdez noted that Cruz-Garcia's hands were sweating and still shaking when he talked to him again later during the traffic stop.

After Valdez had initially approached the SUV and asked for the registration, he noticed, while the glove box was open, three air fresheners in it, as well as two air fresheners hanging from the left side of the steering wheel, and a can of liquid air freshener by the center console, the officer's written statement filed in Springer Magistrate Court says. Air fresheners are often used by drug smugglers who are trying to mask a drug's odor.

http://www.ratonrange.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=143&ArticleID=9898

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. anyone having organic smell problems in their

car or other places, use Bac-Azap. It is an organic compound that eats odors. Just sayin'.

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. It's a lot stealthier

to tape fabric softener sheets over a car's floor vents.

Works, too.

[The Straight Story]

3. Keep up the tips...I am taking notes...just in case ;) (nt)

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. Actually, I dunno if it works on marrywanna

But it does on tobacco. :thumbsup:

[proud patriot]

13. Good one

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

5. God How Stupid Can They Be. What A Dumb Way To Mask The Smell.

Best way is simply to chain smoke cigs. The strong smell of cig smoke, especially to non-smokers, can override just about any odor.

But to have all the air freshners? They were just begging for suspicion.

[sbj405]

6. I saw on Cops that they use coffee beans, too.

:shrug:

[The Straight Story]

7. I'd just fart a lot

They would be begging me to roll up the window and move on :)

[bbernardini]

9. Actually, that got a friend of mine out of a ticket once.

He was driving back from somewhere with some pals, and had to use the bathroom REALLY BADLY. The odors emanating from his ass helped the officer who pulled him over to realize that he wasn't just speeding for the hell of it, and the officer let him go with a warning.

[onethatcares]

8. but his hands were shaking,

that's enough to get a warrant in this day and age. Face it, the driver was a gimme, the larger load went on without delay.

[WhiteTara]

10. turkey bags and

seal a meal...don't vacuum too tight though.
:)

[conscious evolution]

11. If I knew more about the statute

of limitations I could tell you an interesting story about how that isn't a foolproof means to hide the odors of stuff.

[Pavulon]

12. Luck..

nothing is foolproof. dogs have great senses of smell.

It would not be illegal to theorize about a method, like , rotten meat or used cat litter hides the smell of dope (random idea just making up stinky stuff) but I probably would not post anything I did that was illegal on a public forum...